Method and apparatus for well operations employing hydrogen peroxide



June 8, 1954 P G CARPENTER METHOD AND APPARATUS FOR WELL OPERATIONS EMPLOYING HYDROGEN PERQXIDE Filed Jan. 4, 1949 0 gm; l I I I l I N I I u u co m INVENTOR. P. G. CARPENTER ATTORNEYS Patented June 8, 1954 UNITED STATES AT OFFICE METHOD AND AP PARATUS FOR WELL OPERATIONS EMPLOYING HYDROGEN PEROXIDE Paul G. Carpenter, Bartlesville, Okla", assignor to Phillips P of Delaware Application January 4,

roleuin Company, a corporation 1949, Serial No. 69,212

12 Claims. (Cl. 1661) This invention relates to processes and appa ratus for carrying out operations in a Well.

hydrogen peroxide. In another aspect it relates to perforating a hole in a pipe and/ or the wall of a Well by a single flame. In another specific the accompanying drawings.

Figure 1 is a cross sectional view of a well containing apparatus embodying the present invention and illustrates a process embodying the present invention.

Figure 2 is Figure 5 is a cross sectional view of a third form of apparatus which may be substituted for the lowermost portions of Figures 1 or 3.

In Figure 1 a which is lined with pipe or casing Suspended in hole 1 is a burner apparatus generally designated I I. Burner apparatus 1 up the cable l Apparatus 1! comprises an upper tank It and a lower tank The fuel from tank i7 manner through conduit 3! controlled by a time and as a safety feature a check valve 3:3 prevents back fiow in conduit 3! Conduits 3| and 26 are made into concentric conduits 3'6 and 37, respectively, in order to form a stator for a reaction jet turbine having a rotor 38. lhe fuel in outer pipe 36 is led into upper spiral passages 39 of rotor 38 while the hydrogen peroxide coming down the inside of inner pipe 31 is led to lower spiral passages For purposes of disassembly and repair, head 38 may be made in several pieces as indicated which may be connected together in any suitable manner but as the specific construction of head 38 is not part of the present invention, no further details of construction are given.

As shown in Figure 2 the jets of fuel d2 emerging through passages 39 in a non-radial direction cause rotation of head 38 in the direction indi cated by arrow 53 as is common in reaction jet turbines and the hydrogen peroxide emerging through similar spiral openings M also causes rotation of head 38 in the same direction as 43.

When the hydrogen peroxide and the suitable fuel come together, they ignite spontaneously and burn, and in have burned an annular groove M through the wall of pipe and into the ground 8 to such an extent as to sever lower portion 46 of pipe 9 from the main body of the pipe.

If desired this jet can be single direction as shown in Figures 3 and 4. In Figure 3 a modified burning apparatus generally designated as H may be oriented in the hole by surveying it in on the end of a rigid pipe or rod line consisting of pipes 41 and 48 connected by couplings 69. To prevent minor amounts of movement when the jet is turned on, and/ or to space the jet the desired distance from the wall and to center the device II, it may be provided with spring arms 5! which act as spacing means to center the device H in the center of the well hole.

The jet 52 at the bottom of be discussed with relation to Figure 4 where it is shown in enlarged form. Pipe 53 may be connected either to the hydrogen peroxide tank l6 or the fuel tank I! and the other pipe 54 is connected to the opposite tank. The liquid coming down pipe 53 passes through nozzle 55 to link and burn with the liquid coming down pipe 54 and pass out the jet orifice 5'! as a hot flame capable of burning its way through steel and other metals and other hard materials.

When downward drilling is desired the jet may be directed downwardly as shown in Figure 5 where pipe 53 is connected to the hydrogen peroxide tank or the fuel tank while pipe 59 is connected to the opposite tank. The liquid coming down pipe 53 goes through jet 6! and meeting with the other liquid burns and passes out jet nozzle 82 in the form of a jet of flame.

concentrated .in any device H will now Operation In order to obtain efficient operation, the hydrogen peroxide should be concentrated until it is at least 10% by weight hydrogen peroxide and the remainder being water and a decompotype known to the However, higher concentrations of hydrogen peroxide are preferred and a concentration of 98% by weight of hydrogen peroxide gives excellent results. While it is preferred to use a self-igniting fuel, a device such as an automatic spark plug could be positioned adjacent the exit 39 to ignite the fuel and hydrogen peroxide. employ a self-igniting fuel selected from the group of hydrocarbons, pyrocatechol, alkyl pyrocatechols and hydrazine prior art.

hydrate, and of the hydrocarbons, a fuel oil of a gas oil grade is preferred although kerosenes, napthas, gasolines and liquified petroleum gases may be employed. Liquid hydrocarbons are preferred.

In Figure l the apparatus H is lowered into the well with time clocks 28 and 33 set to give enough time to position the device at the elevation desired. Time clocks 28 and 33 then open inert gases above 21 hydrogen peroxide, respectively, through pipes 31 and 2t and out spiral passages 39 and G! into space M where they meet and spontaneously ignite (or are ignited by a spark plug not shown). The result ing flame burns an annular groove through casing 9 into wall 8 of the well. Obviously if desired any chemist can calculate the proportions of hydrogen peroxide and fuel (depending on the type of fuel) to provide an oxidizing flame in order to burn up steel or aluminum casing or the like.

While valves 2'? and 32 have been shown controlled by time clccks 23 and 33, it is obvious that they could be replaced by electric solenoids controlling these valves from the surface of the ground by means of an electrical circuit including a source of electrical power, switch and wires leading to the solenoids. Obviously, valves 21 and 32 could be provided with a mechanical operating linkage having a portion extending adjacent cable i2 to be operated by a go-devil or a piece of pipe threaded on cable 12 and dropped into the well.

Cutting casing 9 at A l as illustrated in Figure l by lowering device ll below the bottom of casing 46 the surface of well 8 can be cleaned of deposits in the same manner with the flame of fuel and hydrogen peroxide.

If it is desired to make a perforation in casing 9 or the wall 8 which perforation will extend back into the ground a considerable distance for the release of oil into the well for other processes, the apparatus shown in Figure 3 is employed and if desired jet 52 can be positioned and oriented by surveying the suspension means .1 into the well. By supplying an exhaust of hydrogen peroxide, oxidation or spalling can be enhanced and solid materials present combusted in the perforation.

The flame and jet produced by this apparatus is useful in dri ling wells in which case the jet is directed downwardly at 82 as shown in Figure 5. This jet impinges on the bottom of the hole 1 and removes material therefrom, thereby deepening the hole.

While I have shown in the drawings and described in the specification a number of processes and means for carrying out these processes, these have been given for purposes of illustration and the invention is not limited thereto but is as defined in the following claims.

Other combustible organic materials, such as methyl, or ethyl alcohol, can be employed as fuel, but are not as good as those fuels enumerated in the claims because their heat of combustion is less.

Having described my invention, 1 claim:

1. Apparatus for producing a jet of burning hydrogen peroxide and fuel comprising in combination a tanl for said fuel, means to position said tanks in a well, means to supply gas pressure to the liquids in said ta. ks to eject said liquids, outlet means for said tanks leading to adjacent disand 23 force charge conduits comprising a rotatable reaction turbine, check valves in said venting back flow in each outlet means, and means to open said shutoff valves comprising clock means the same at a predetermined time.

2. Apparatus for producing a jet of burning set to open 3. Apparatus for producing a jet of burning hydrogen peroxide and fuel comprising in combination a tank for said hydrogen peroxide, a tank for said fuel,

a well, means to supply said shutoff valves.

4. Apparatus for producing a jet of hurning remove the same.

7. The process of removing solid material from a portion of a wall of a Well bore in the earth comprising positioning a supply point, ejecting contacting said hydrofuel, combusting the said pipe to the pipe to sever the same.

10. The process of bore comprising positioning a supply of at least turbine.

References Cited in the file of this patent UNITED STATES PATENTS Number 7 Name Date 1,352,381 Reynolds Sept. 7, 1920 1,433,046 Thacher Oct. 24, 1922 1,510,925 Kaiser et a1 Oct. '7, 1924 (Other references on following page) 8 UNITED STATES PATENTS Number Name Date Number Name t 2,525,391 Bates o 1 1950 1 532 134 Mims 27, 1926 2,571,536 Wat-kins 16, 1951 1,639,008 Shannon et a1. Aug. 16, 192'] 5 OTHER, E NCES fiigg gym g; 3 13%; Little Industrial Bulletin, No. 220, April 1946, 22 9 ,4 9 I 0 14: 941 pages 2 221 232 a1 N52 4 1941 Rockets August 1946 page 228351O Potter 5 1942 Coast Art'llery Journal, January-February 2,327,498 Burch Aug. 24, 1943 10 1943' pages 27 and 2,327,508 Craig Aug. 24, 1943 o k t Feb 1 ,1

2,436,036 Defenbaugh Feb. 1'7, 1948 

1. APPARATUS FOR PRODUCING A JET OF BURNING HYDROGEN PEROXIDE AND FUEL COMPRISING IN COMBINATION A TANK FOR SAID HYDROGEN PEROXIDE, A TANK FOR SAID FUEL, MEANS TO POSITON SAID TANKS IN A WELL, MEANS TO SUPPLY GAS PRESSURE TO THE LIQUIDS IN SAID TANKS TO EJECT SAID LIQUIDS, OUTLET MEANS FOR SAID TANKS LEADING TO ADJACENT DISCHARGE CONDUITS COMPRISING A ROTATABLE REACTION TURBINE, CHECK VALVES IN SAID OUTLET MEANS PREVENTING BACK FLOW THERETHROUGH, A SHUTOFF VALVE IN EACH OUTLET MEANS, AND MEANS TO OPEN SAID SHUTOFF VALVES COMPRISING CLOCK MEANS SET TO OPEN THE SAME AT A PREDETERMINED TIME.
 6. THE PROCESS OF REMOVING SOLID MATERIAL FROM A PORTION OF A WALL OF A WELL BORE IN THE EARTH COMPRISING POSITIONING A SUPPLY OF AT LEAST 70% BY WEIGHT HYDROGEN PEROXIDE ADJACENT THE POINT OF SAID REMOVAL IN SAID BORE HOLE, EJECTING SAID HYDROGEN PEROXIDE FROM SAID SUPPLY, POSITIONING A SUPPLY OF A FUEL SUITABLE FOR COMBUSTION WITH HYDROGEN PEROXIDE SELECTED FROM THE GROUP CONSISTING OF LIQUID HYDROCARBONS, PYROCATECHOL, ALKYL PYROCATECHOLS, AND HYERAZINE HYDRATE, ADJACENT SAID POINT, EJECTING SAID FUEL FROM SAID SUPPLY, CONTACTING SAID HYDROGEN PEOXIDE AND SAID FUEL, COMBUSTING THE MAJOR PORTION OF SAID FUEL AND THEREBY CONSUMING AT LEAST A PORTION 